Newly released records reveal that Joshua Jahn — the 29-year-old gunman who killed two detainees and wounded another at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas — believed he suffered from “radiation sickness” and was “allergic to plastic.”
His parents told police their son was “completely normal” before he moved to Washington state several years ago and later returned home with those delusions, according to CBS News and newly released police records.
According to a Fairview Police Department report, Jahn began wearing cotton gloves to avoid touching plastic and practiced target shooting in Oklahoma a month before the September 24 attack.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Jahn fatally shot Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, 37, from El Salvador, and Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, from Mexico, before taking his own life.
Garcia-Hernandez sustained at least eight gunshot wounds and later died at Parkland Hospital after being taken off life support.
A third victim, Jose Andres Bordones-Molina, survived and was released from the hospital, a Department of Homeland Security official said.
Authorities said Jahn left notes expressing anti-enforcement sentiments and wrote “ANTI-ICE” on a bullet. His parents told the FBI he was a “loner” obsessed with artificial intelligence technology and that he rarely engaged in conversation.
The records show Jahn had taken classes at a Texas community college before moving to Washington to work at a legal marijuana farm. The farm’s owner, Ryan Sanderson, said Jahn “appeared directionless” and often slept in his car.
After returning home, Jahn claimed he had been exposed to radiation in Washington and feared it caused his illness.
His family described him as unemployed and withdrawn, spending most of his time gaming alone in his room. Analysts with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found he played under the username “Frank Hoenniker,” a reference to a character in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle.
According to the FBI, Jahn legally obtained the rifle used in the attack.